Treehouse Sleeping and Sigiriya

Because tiny island Sri Lanka is home to eight UNESCO Heritage Sites, they're kind of hard to avoid. And so we made our way to Sigiriya, another ancient city, this one the home of King Kassapa from 477-95. The most stunning feature of this ancient town is called Lion's Rock, a granite peak standing nearly 200 meters above the rest of the surrounding town. 

Before we could make it there though, our accommodation delivered some surprises. We shacked up in a new guesthouse (name now escapes me) that was actually a series of treehouses, actual rooms with ensuite bathrooms up on stilts in the trees. This sounds like a fun idea. But the reality was that no windows meant that birds flew up, perched and flew through the unscreened windows. Lizards and spiders likewise. Note: birds wake up early. 

So the experience was more in-nature than around it: 

The next morning, having had minimal rest, we made our way to the ancient Sigiriya site. From a distance, Lion's Rock looked otherworldly:

On the side of the mountain, staircases wound their way up and around: 

We climbed and climbed to be greeted with some stunning views: 

With lots of hilarious warning signs to not provoke the hornets:

It's easy to see why this place was seen as sacred. What a stunning sacred city.